Tag Archives: characters

In this post, I want to look at how ideas about writing evolve and change from writer to writer. In his book, “Death in the Afternoon,” Ernest Hemingway spoke about what he called the “iceberg principle” or the “theory of omission,”he explains that:

“If a writer of prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader, if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. The dignity of the movement of the iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water. The writer who omits things because he does not know them only makes hollow places in his writing.”

In James Scott Bell’s book, “Conflict & Suspense” he refers to the iceberg principle under the subject of… Subtext. With regard to writing scenes in a book he says: “A scene should be about more than what it is about. On the surface it is what the characters are doing and saying. But underneath the surface, other story deposits are bubbling up toward the top.”

Now, granted most icebergs don’t bubble, but that’s beside the point. But Bell did include a very interesting diagram in the book, which shows the exposed part of the iceberg as the “scene,” below that he lists, “character relationship,” “backstory,” and “theme.” This is in keeping with Hemingway’s idea, that if you understand the characters relationship to each other, know some of the backstory, and have considered the theme you are exploring. Those elements don’t have to be written in the scene as part of the action, but it can inform how your characters interact with each other.

Now, I look at all of this and in my small mind, what do I see? I see a form. If I haven’t told you, I’m not big on “pantsing” when it comes to writing, I’m a planner. I don’t outline, as it’s tough to really consider creating an emotional experience for your reader when you are just outlining: “this happens, and then there’s an explosion, and then this happens.”

So, with this valuable insight I created the following form. One on side is your POV character, on the other, the opposition character (in this particular scene) If you fill out each blank, for each character, you know about their backstory, their relationship and this may inform how you are expressing the theme of the overall story. You can use this as a guide to shape the scene, now knowing what to omit.

it always helps to look beneath the surface….

In the diagram, I looked at two characters, Phil, the detective, the POV character in the scene. He’s investigating a murder, Cheryl, is a key witness and he goes to her jewelry store to interview her. Now, add to the mix that Phil broke off a relationship with Cheryl years ago, and Cheryl hopes one day to win Phil back. This gives you, the writer a whole set of choices to make when creating this scene. How does Cheryl look to Phil now? The scene is from his point over view, is she still as pretty as ever? Or has she aged… badly? Is he going to use their past relationship to get more information out of her?

I hope you can see that doing this little exercise works from the top down or the bottom up. Let’s say you have decided on the themes you want to explore but have not created the characters. How would you create a character if you know that one side of your theme question has to do with “everyone lies” they way they did in the television show “House”?

What do you think? Would you find this helpful the next time you are stuck in a scene? When you want to add more tension, the kind that just simmers below the surface? I would love to hear what you have to say. Thanks as always, for stopping by.

Spring has sprung, and on this the first, second, or third day of spring is a perfect time to continue our look at Astrology for Writers. At first I wanted to begin with the basics of charts and zodiacs and the symbols for all the planets, but I realized it’s a lot to throw out all at once. So I thought we’d begin with the signs and work our way from there.

So, first off — Happy New Year! Yes, for astrologers, and for those in the western hemisphere who follow the old calendars, the vernal equinox marks the beginning of the New Year. Old Man Winter is well on his way out, and the Darling Buds of May are on their way in. There is new birth all around, from new green shoots on the trees, to the spring lambs, and the sun has moved into the constellation of Aries. This is a good time to remind you that’s where all the “signs” in astrology come from. Back in the day, the big theatre was up in the sky. Star gazing was about all you could do at night time, so the night sky became the big “screen” so to speak where ancient story tellers, sitting around camp fires extolling the exploits of gods and goddesses, and re-telling the myths of the day could then point up to the sky and say “look, kiddies, there’s Aries looking down at us now.” The constellation Aries shows a series of stars depicting a ram lying on the ground with his head to the right. Here’s what it looks like:

Aries the Ram as seen in the sky

The sign Aries, looks like the horns of a Ram, and “Aries” is latin for “ram” but then we get into the whole Greek/Roman smack down, as Aries is the Greek god of war. Who came first? The constellation, the ram, the god? Who knows? Actually a bunch of people do know and here is a great article from Wikipedia, if you want the nitty gritty. But in the end they agreed that Aries is the constellation and the sign we’ll be talking about.

Now as for the sign and what it “means” we get to talk about how most people first encounter astrology. They read it in a newspaper column, or a magazine that all use a bunch of key words like head-strong, energetic, innovative, pioneering, original, aggressive, enthusiastic, self-assured. These characteristics derive from what the astrologers saw in their daily lives during this time. Children born under the sign of Aries displayed a lot of these behaviors. The world around them, as new plants were growing, new energy expressing itself, lead the astrologers to classify Aries as on of the Fire signs. And this is the glyph or symbol for Aries:

Sort looks like Ram horns don't it?

The elements are also classified in terms of degrees, they are called Cardinal, Fixed, or Mutable. Aries is a Cardinal Fire sign. What does Cardinal mean? The word comes from the French “cardo” not to be mixed up with “cardio” which is what you should be doing every day to fire up your heart healthy, but I digress. Hmm, starting a new spring workout schedule? Aries can help fire that up. Because “cardo” means a hinge, on which something turns. In this case, the New Year, hinges on the vernal equinox.

Am I getting too technical? Let’s just say that Cardinal signs are the first, the premiere, the initiator of things. Add that to fire and it melds perfectly with the story we are told of the Greek god Aries. He was the god of war, how much more fiery and impulsive can you get? According to his mythology, he was the only son of Zeus and Hera, although Zeus was famous for his liaisons with other women. Aries ruled war and was said to delight in conflict. He fooled around with Aphrodite, the goddess of love and their son was named Eros (yes, where we get the word, erotic).

Now, how to put this in perspective for writers? When you are looking at your characters, do any of them express a fiery, impulsive attitude? Do they jump first and ask questions later? Have you thought of assigning this character other fiery associations? Does he or she smoke? Does your story hinge on their actions? Do they create messes that other characters have to clean up later?

When we create characters we want to give them as much depth as we can, to make them three dimensional, and along with their positive characteristics, we should examine their negative side. One of the hard parts of being a leader, and the first one to start something, is often Aries “natives” don’t finish what they start. How would that kind of action affect your other characters? I bet they are complaining already.

The premiere fire sign, the one who starts it all

Just for fun, here are some famous Aries people that you may have heard of. Sarah Jessica Parker, Reese Witherspoon, Jackie Chan, Eddie Murphy, Alec Baldwin, Marlon Brando, Robert Downey, Jr., Russell Crowe, Quentin Tarantino, Celine Dione, Diana Ross, Mariah Carey, Aretha Franklin, Billy Holliday, Rosie O’Donnell, Conan O’Brien, and David Letterman. They managed to harness that Aries fire and it made them all famous in their own rights. I for one wouldn’t want to be in a room with all that energy, but you know the fireworks would certainly be a great show to watch.

Okay, all my Aries peeps, does any of this make sense to you? Hmm? And friends from other signs, have you had to deal with the messes our Aries friends leave in their wake? I do, my mother is an Aries and you’ve already heard me go on about her. I’d love to hear from you, and your favorite Aries characters.

The New Social Alchemy

Social Alchemy: is my version of the digital salon. Where interesting ideas are bandied about, where opinions are appreciated. Where all that makes life interesting: art, creativity, writing, love, and compassion are explored in many facets. And it's also a place to come and relax. When you want to turn off the digital noise, kick back, relax, and just be yourself. Thank you so much for visiting.